How to Write a Sentence

Description

New York Times Bestseller“Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style” – Adam Haslett, Financial Times“A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” – Slate“Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop.”
 —Roy Blount Jr.In this entertaining and erudite New York Times bestseller, beloved professor Stanley Fish offers both sentence craft and sentence pleasure. Drawing on a wide range of  great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works.

Some appreciate fine art; others appreciate fine wines. Stanley Fish appreciates fine sentences. The New York Times columnist and world-class professor has long been an aficionado of language. Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving readers an instant play-by-play.

In this entertaining and erudite gem, Fish offers both sentence craft and sentence pleasure, skills invaluable to any writer (or reader). How to Write a Sentence is both a spirited love letter to the written word and a key to understanding how great writing works; it is a book that will stand the test of time.

“Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.” “A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” “[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.” “Stanley Fish just might be America’s most famous professor.” “How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems—light reading for geeks.” “How to Write a Sentence isn’t merely a prescriptive guide to the craft of writing but a rich and layered exploration of language as an evolving cultural organism. It belongs not on the shelf of your home library but in your brain’s most deep-seated amphibian sensemaking underbelly.” “[Fish’s] approach is genially experiential—a lifelong reader’s engagement whose amatory enthusiasm is an attempt to overthrow Strunk & White’s infamous insistences on grammar by rote.” “In this small feast of a book Stanley Fish displays his love of the English sentence. His connoisseurship is broad and deep, his examples are often breathtaking, and his analyses of how the masterpieces achieve their effects are acute and compelling.” “A sentence is, in John Donne’s words, ‘a little world made cunningly,’ writes Fish. He’ll teach you the art.” “This splendid little volume describes how the shape of a sentence controls its meaning.” “Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop.” “Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing.” “Fish is a personable and insightful guide with wide-ranging erudition and a lack of pretension.” “For both aspiring writer and eager reader, Fish’s insights into sentence construction and care are instructional, even inspirational.” “If you love language you’ll find something interesting, if not fascinating, in [How to Write a Sentence].” “[A] slender but potent volume. Fish, a distinguished law professor and literary theorist, is the anti-Strunk & White.” “You’d get your money’s worth from the quotations alone…if you give this book the attention it so clearly deserves, you will be well rewarded.” “The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen…all are cited throughout.” “How to Write a Sentence is the first step on the journey to the Promised Land of good writing.” “How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.” “Coming up with all-or-nothing arguments is simply what Fish does; and, in a sense, one of his most important contributions to the study of literature is that temperament…Whether people like Fish or not, though, they tend to find him fascinating.”

Additional information